Expanding the View

	July 1999

EXPANDING THE VIEW LIVES UP TO IT'S PROMISE

D.
Curtis Chong, Director of Technology, NFB,
demonstrated on-screen speech of web site
non-visual access issues.
MDTAP sponsored a well-attended conference entitled "Expanding the View" on May 19 at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in Baltimore.
This first-of-its kind conference on technology accessibility attracted over 135 attentive vendors, businesspeople, state procurement specialists and technology consumers with disabilities and generated many requests to "do it again next year." The conference, under the leadership of the Maryland Technology Assistance Program and hosted by the National Federation of the Blind with participation from the Access and Equity Committee of the Governor's Information Technology program, provided a visionary look at the issues both legal and technical that concern indivviduals with vision, motor an cognitive disabilities face when dealing with electronic public access technologies such as the internet, kiosks, ATMs and phone systems.
The purpose of the conference, funded through a grant to MDTAP from Maryland's Information Technology Investment Fund, was to bring state agencies and the information technology vendor community together to learn about accessibility issues and how to ensure that web sites and all state public access information technologies including web, kiosk and internal/external communication systems are as user-friendly and accessible to as many people as possible.
D.
Paul Rasinski (r), Executive Director of TAP,
Major Riddick (c), Governor's Chief of Staff
and Bill Opet (l), President, Corporate Network
Services Division, PSINet share smiles over the
success of the conference.
The conference was kicked off by welcoming remarks from Dr. Betsy Zaborowski and Marc Maurer of the NFB, Paul Rasinski of MDTAP, Les Hearn, Executive Director of the Office of Information Technology, Maryland Department of Budget and Management, and Shirley Marshall of IBM, and Chair of the Information Technology Board's Access and Equity Committee.
The morning panel featured:
--Jennifer Simpson of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities on "Critical Aspects of Universal Access in the Workplace;",
--Jim Thatcher, IBM Special Needs Systems, and vice chair of the Electronic Information Technology Access Advisory Committee (EITAAG) of the Federal Access Board on "The State of Access Technology Development in IBM and national Trends;"
--Jim Gashel, Director of Governmental Affairs, NFB on "The Impact of State and Federal Legislation on the IT Procurement Process;"
--Mike Paciello, President of WebABLE! Soluntions on "Accessible Web Page Design;" --Patrick Sheehan, computer specialist with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, on "IT Access Issues, Implications for a Large Federal Agency;" and
--Dustin Gill, student at Community College on "Hands-free Access, or What the Internet Means to Me."
Curtis Chong, NFB's Director of Technology, gave a lively and insightful demonstration of on-screen non-visual access. Among the sites he visited were: Amazon.com, Broadcast.com, and Yahoo mapping. He said -- and showed -- that because the map site's text in a table format, was coded incorrectly, the screen reader read the directions in a confusing way.
Luncheon speakers were Major Riddick, Governor Glendening's chief of staff and Bill Opet, president of PSI Net's Corporate Network Services Division. Both were eloquent on the exciting aspects of technology in the service of Universal equal access.
After lunch, attendees chose from hands-on and small group technology demonstrations and two workshops, on procurement and human resources.
D.
Taylor McConnaughhay (c), of MSDE/DORS,
demonstrates non-keyboard access to
attendees. Mary Brady (l) of TAP looks on.
They got a chance to see and use accessibility technology in the NFB's International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind, such as demonstration of non-keyboard access, scanning and speech technology, Braille translation software and embossers, and exemplary state web sites for users of synthetic speech technology and Braille displays. In addition, participants gained insight into how to make forms accessible, access the web without a computer and what an accessible kiosk might be like.
D.
Curtis Chong, Director of Technology,
NFB, demonstrates to a small crowd.
During the procurement workshop, many of the questions from agencies and vendors alike showed concern and a willingness to do what needs to be done to achieve accessibility. Les Hearn, Executive Director of Maryland's Office of IT in the Department of Management and Budget, said, "Maryland will need training to ensure that business managers are responding in the spirit of accessibility."
The employment workshop provided attendees a chance to address on-the-job accessibility issues with Jennifer Simpson (see above) and Anthony Cobb of NFB's Job Opportunities for the Blind. They described the extensive nationwide activities undertaken by their respective organizations to increase employment for people with disabilities.
D.
David Poehlman presents "The PC
and Beyond" to participants.
Conference evaluations indicated that this one-day event will have a wide-reaching effect among state procurement officials, the University of Maryland, state agencies, and web designers and developers. Participants will use the information gained at the conference to make web sites and products more accessible.
For more information about the conference or presentors:
http://www.mdtap.org
1-800-832-4827 MD TAP

Home

Newsletter

Calendar

Index

Contact